Garage door clamp



Aug. 1, 1944.

D. M. ROBINSON GARAGE DOOR CLAMP Filed Dec. 2, 194Q L M A-.. o o I u M d 0 i A n m haai. g E rw Mw 1 l 6 w w #//r @L www. f., c a. i@

AV/DMQOBJNJON Patented Aug. 1, 1944 A Conn., a corporation of Connecticutl'i L, l v l Application December 2, 1940, Serial No. 368,163 Y 1 claim. (o1. 2li-38) The present invention relatesftoan, improved clamp for,A securing allaterally extending. reinfforcing brace to a garage door so as to prevent shiftingand sagging of the door?. -A brace in order to eiectively prevent sagging usually comprises a channel iron of substantially U shaped cross-section, oneiiangefof which is lsecured to the garage door.' Heretofore it has been customary to secure non-sagging angle bars of this type by means of carriage bolts and it was therefore necessary to drill aligned bolt holes in the bar and the door. However, the shape and composition of the brace makes the drilling an exacting and time consuming operation.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved clamp for rigidly attaching the angle iron to the door whereby the necessity of drilling aligned holes in the angle iron is eliminated and wherein the bite of the clamp provides an extremely effective grip on the nonsagging member.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a novel securing means of this type which can be easily and inexpensively manufactured and can be installed with a minimum f time and eiort.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplied in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure l is a plan view of a portion of a wide overhead garage door and shows a pair of reinforcing channel irons or braces laterally secured to a section of the door by means of clamps embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of one of the clamps shown in Figure l with the overlying portion of the channel iron broken away;

Fig. 3 is a cross-section profile view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and l Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5 5 of Fig. 3 and illustrates more clearly the bite of the clamp on the brace.

Referring to Figure 1 there is shown generally a portion of a wide overhead garage door D made up of a series of sections I0, the adjacent edges of which are secured by hinges I2. Because of the extreme width of the door, reinforcing braces y :"DacvidMal-colm Robinson, New Britain, Gonne-as,- K., g. signor to' The Stanley Works, ,New' Britain',

I4 are laterally secured to the door byV means of the spaced clamps C. A satis'iactorybrace for this purpose can vbe made in` anumber 'offdifferent shapes and it is to be understoodf'that the brace disclosed -inf't'he drawing is merelyillustrative' of onev satisfactory?.typeffoff'brace More specifically,` the' brace "I 4 comprises a; channelir'on of substantially U-shap'ed 'cross' section having a relativelynarrow ange- I6 Va'ndia'flange I8 of substantially r'gre'ater widthV which extends outwardly from one edge of the iiange I6 and at right angles thereto. The free edge of the central iiange I8 is bent to form a curved flange 28 and as a result the cross-Section of -the brace I4 has the approximate shape of a sh hook, as best appreciated with reference to Fig. 3.

Generally the clamp C` comprises a base plate 20 and a cooperating clamping member 22, properly positioned relative to one another by a bolt 24 and clamped to each other and to the door by means of a nut 26 cooperating with the bolt 24.

More particularly the base plate 20 is a substantially rectangular flat sheet metal member having a bolt hole 28 cut therein and having the edge most remote from the bolt hole upset at right angles so as to provide an abutting flange 30. 'I'he inner surface 3I of the ilange 30 abuts the outer surface I9 of the flange I8 and the outer surface l1 of the flange IB is secured to the base plate 20 when the brace is properly located thereon. In order to secure the brace in the position indicated the clamping member 22 comprises a substantially cylindrically curved sheet metal stamping, the forward portion of which is upset so that the lower edges 32 of the upset portion are parallel with and oiset from the lower edges 34 of the rear portion an amount slightly less than the thickness of the brace flange I6. As illustrated in the drawing, the ends 33 and 35 of the clamping member are deformed so that the curve is taken out of them and they form substantially straight edges except that the outer corners of each edge extend downwardly to form the spaced front locking points 36 and the rear locking points 38. A bolt hole 40 is cut in a boss 42 upset centrally in the clamping member 22.

In clamping position the forward locking points 36 of the member 22 are adapted to overlie the flange I6 of the brace adjacent the flange I8 and the rear locking points 38 overlie the base plate 20. In this position the bolt hole 40 is aligned with the bolt hole 28 in the base plate and permits the insertion of the bolt 24 therethrough and through an aligned bolt hole 44 in the door.

, member. v

y spaced points. Further, inasmuch as the body of the clamping member is upset relative to the points 36 and 38, the points tend to separate further when thenut 26 is tightened and since the only point of lslippage is between the base 2f)` and ythe flange I6 the brace will tend to assume the position wherein the flange I8 positively and rmly abuts the upset flange 30 of the base It will also be observed that inasmuch as the forward locking points 36 are themselves Aspaced apart as are the rear locking points38 the nut l 26 in cooperation with the bolt 24 firmly secure the brace I4 at spaced points. In order not to weaken the door by unnecessary bolt holes the tightening bolt 24 for each of the clamps C may constitute one of the bolts for securing one leaf of the hinge I2 to the door, as is illustrated in connection with the lower brace I 4 shownA in Figure 1. f

As many changes could be made in the above construction/and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof,-it.is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claim is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claimA as myrinvention: Y f' Y A clamp for securing a door brace and comprising a sheet metal base member having a, flat base plate and an upwardly extending flange at oneend thereof, said base plate having a bolt i hole intermediate its ends, a clamp having a bolt .opening intermediate its ends and adapted to Aregister `with said bolt hole, said clamp being DAVID MALCOLM ROBINSON.' 

